Figure 1.--The firm was Charles Baker & Co., a retailer that had several outlets in London--in Fleet Street (in the City), in Oxford Street (in the West End), and in Tottenham Court Road. The main headquarters of the firm was located at 271-272 High Holborn in the West End. This company seems to have been a large one, appealing to a large cross-section of the British public. The item here is dated December 1893. It looks like 1883, but we do not think colored printing was common in the 1880s.

The firm was Charles Baker & Co., a retailer that had several outlets in London--in Fleet Street (in the City), in Oxford Street (in the West End), and in Tottenham Court Road. The main headquarters of the firm was located at 271-272 High Holborn in the West End. This company seems to have been a large one, give the builkdings shown. They seem to hav appealed to a large cross-section of the British public. We note quite a number of the store's advertisements duting the 1880s and 90s, suggesting that it was a very important store. Te made apoint at offering 'trade prices' or discounts. One source suggest this is a reflection of the highly competitive London market at the time. The store was apparently opened in 1864. The advetisement here suggests the prietors we west of England manufacturers so the stores wee apparently opened as outlets. The page here says that they were opened to keep pace with the Civil Service Stores. Our British readers also have no idea what that meant. Some seem to think that htey were like Army Navy stores, but advertising for school clothing also mention competition with the the Civil Service Stores. We are not sure what that means. We are not sure when the store was closed. We note ads into the late 1890s, but the store could well have continued operating later than that.

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Created: 7:44 PM 7/20/2007
Last updated: 10:36 PM 8/6/2014